Keller saved best for last

Chad Drury

Wednesday

Mar 13, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Traci Keller's best was usually saved for last.

Win or lose down the stretch, if a play needed to be made at either end of the floor, look no farther than Central Lee High School's 5-foot-4 point guard, whose aggressive and fast play was drawn as much from family football games in the backyard as it was offseason basketball.

Yet, her overall responsibility wasn't to take over games. However, if something needed done, she didn't shy away from it.

"My role as a point guard is to get the ball into other players' hands at the right time," said Keller, the All-Hawk Eye girls basketball player of the year. "But I knew when we needed to make shots. You keep track of the score. My instincts just kick into overdrive. It's just the way I've kind of always played."

Keller has been dubbed "a pest" by at least one opponent, and that may be more of a compliment than a rebuke. She was not afraid to drive hard to the basket, dish off or maybe hoist an errant shot to draw contact and get to the free-throw line. The game was a full-court game for Keller, who has family to thank for that.

"The aggressive style I learned was from growing up with a lot of boy cousins playing football in the yard," she chuckled. "But you also get those experiences from AAU. If you don't adapt, you won't play."

Keller's senior season seemed to be the cap to a career that was steadily improving from the start. A four-year starter for the Lady Hawks, she played in three regional finals and surpassed 1,000 career points this season. As a sophomore, she missed all but nine games with a knee injury. Then came a double knee surgery, but she got better the last two years, helping the team to back-to-back 20-win seasons, including 20-4 this season and a shared SEI Superconference South Division title.

"I think you always question yourself after something like that, but it's something you have to get over mentally," Keller said of the injuries. "If you don't, it'll hold you back. When I missed all those games as a sophomore, I got a different perspective on the game. You learn a lot of life experiences."

Keller may have lost something physically after the knee injuries, but she never lost her will to lead her team. She scored in double figures in 21 of 24 games in the Lady Hawks' fast-paced offense this season, a remarkable total for a team that prided itself on great balance between the guards and posts. She scored 18 in the fourth quarter of a two-point loss to Notre Dame, in which Central Lee trailed by 11 late and Keller was pretty much kept under wraps for three quarters.

But it wasn't just her scoring. Her defense also was one of the reasons why she was named all-state by the Iowa Girls Coaches Association. She had 13 games with at least five steals, and that was usually going against the other teams' point guard. Her defense led to transition points as Central Lee thrived in quickening the pace.

As for pressing and trapping, most teams found that to be a mistake. Keller has been regarded as one of the best press-breakers around because of her quickness and excellent ball-handling skills, but most of the experience against various defenses was learned during offseason camps.

"Presses and traps are just a different path to going somewhere," she said. "I learned that it's a facade because they're trying to stop you from dribbling. There are so many ways to break them."

Yet, for her all late-game exploits and big plays, nothing will take away the sting of the regional final losses, particularly this season's loss to Bondurant-Farrar in which no one really played well.

"It was one of those games that you wish you could start the tip over," Keller said. "We just let it get away from us, but you learn and you live. It didn't go away the next day. We knew we could do it, but it was disappointing because we worked all season for it."

The postseason was a grind for the Lady Hawks, who ran into three teams that tried to take away the transition game. Central Lee struggled scoring in a half-court game, yet managed to battle to the state tournament's penultimate game.

"That was kind of our weakness this season," Keller said. "We were used to getting out and running. We liked to create our own offense. Turnovers really hurt us in the postseason."

Still, Keller's career isn't over. She has verbally committed to play next season at Lindenwood University (NCAA Division II) in St. Charles, Mo. She won't make that official until April. However, like her playing style, she's already putting the pedal to the metal in working toward an Associate of Arts degree. She will likely stay in a sports career long after basketball is over.

"It really came down to them and Simpson College (Division III)," Keller said. "Lindenwood is just a better fit for my education and basketball."

Though her career ended in disappointment, her career wasn't one.

"You develop a lot of great relationships with coaches, players and fans," she said. "Everything happens for a reason, but I guess if I could change anything, I'd be a little taller."

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